Hungarian Hussars of king Charles I of Spain

 Salve,
 my dear friend and researcher Samuel  provided me with this fine primary document where Hungarian hussars in king Carlos I (emperor Charles V) service are described by Luis de Ávila y Zúñiga .

La gente de caballo que vino con el Rey [...]  trajo el Rey novecientos caballos húngaros, que a mi juicio son de los mejores caballos del mundo, y así lo mostraron en la guerra de Sajonia en el año 46, y agora en esta del 47. Las armas que traen son lanzas largas, huecas y gruesas, y dan grande encuentro con ellas; traen escudos o tablachinas hechos de manera, que abajo son anchos, y así lo son hasta el medio, y del medio arriba por la parte de delante vienen enangostándose hasta que acaban en una punta, que les sube por la cabeza; son acombados como paveses; algunos traen jacos de malla. En estas tablachinas pintan y ponen divisas a su modo, que parecen harto bien; traen cimitarras y estoques juntamente muchos dellos, y unos martillos en unas astas largas, de que se ayudan muy bien. Muestran grande amistad a los españoles, porque, como ellos dicen, los unos y los otros bien de los scitas. [..]. Hussars

This may be first translation of this part of Avila text into English, but then it may be just my first  one, and there are others who translated this text into English, I do not not know:
 [...] the King brought 900 Hungarian horses, that in my judgment they are the best horses(horsemen) in the world, and in such manner they proved themselves in the Saxon war of '46 and now in this one of '47 (Schmalkaldic War). The weapons they carry are the following ones: long lances, hollow and thick, and they give big blow (give a large meeting) with them.  They carry shields or bucklers made in this manner, that are wide at the bottom, and in that manner they are until the middle, from the middle up on the external part they become narrower until they end in a point, that passes above the head; the shields are rounded inside like the pavises; some carry coats of mail. These shields they paint and put/attach symbols on them in their own manner,  and they seem really good. Many of them carry sabres and estoques/tucks (koncerze)  together, and some war hammers with a long handle, and that they made great use of those (warhammers). They show great friendship towards the Spanish, because, as they say, the Hungarians and Spanish come from the Scythians.
Polskie tlumaczenie (bez znakow):
[...]Krol przywiodl ze soba 900 koni Wegrow, ktorzy w moim osadzeniu sa najlepsza jazda na swiecie, i  to dowiedli w wojnie saksonskiej w roku 1547, i teraz w tejze roku 1547. Bron ktora uzywaja to sa dlugie kopie, puste(drazone) i grube, i z tymi zadaja ciezkie razy/ciosy [wielkie spotkanie]; niosa ze soba tarcze albo 'pawezki' zrobione w sposob taki, ze u dolu sa szerokie i w ten sposob sa takie do polowy, od polowy ku gorze w czesci zewnetrzenej staja sie coraz wezsze az koncza sie szpicem,i ta czesc im przechodzi przy glowie, [tarcze] sa zaokraglone niczym paweze; niektorzy maja jaki (koszule ) kolcze. Na tych tarczach maluja i przyczepiaja symbole wedlug ich  stylu, ktore wydaja sie dosyc dobre [dobrze wykonane?]; wielu z nich uzywa  razem  szbale i koncerze , a takze niektorzy nadziaki o dlugim drzewcu, ktorymi sie wspomagaja bardzo grzecznie. Pokazuja wielka przjazn ku Hiszpanom, dlatego ze, jak to oni mawiaja, Wegrzy i Hiszpanie pochodza od Scytow[...]"
ps
a quick sketch of a Hungarian hussar, ...lots of work to do yet...

More images from L'Art de la Cavalerie by de Saunier

Salve,
some more fine images from de Saunier's book, ranging from horse gaits to movement while riding
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Enjoy :)
ps and here a link to another book on horses (A horse anatomy, their good and bad qualities, sicknesses and remedies for them) by de Saunier, although he seems to be a coauthor with his father Jean (1734) La parfaite connoissance des chevaux, leur anatomie, leurs bonnes et mauvaises qualitez, leurs maladies & les remèdes qui y conviennent

Gaspard de Saunier - l'ecuyer and author of L'Art de la cavalerie

Salve,
I have been perusing the google books search for the XIX century and earlier books and voila! old book on the art of horsemanship is available for reading and download (at least in US & Canada).
The author of this XVIII century 'hornbook' for riders is Monsieur Gaspar de Saunier (1663-1748), one of the many master of equitation that France produced during XVI-XX centuries. He was a soldiers, horse stud manager, master horseman (ecuyer) and a gentleman - having to defend his honor in a duel killing the opponent, emigrant in Netherlands, and horse school master .
His book -  L'Art de la cavalerie was not translated into English, hence he is not as popular as François Robichon de La Guérinière, le petit ecuyer of l'ecole de Tuileries (the 1st or le grand ecuyer of France was prince Charles de Lorraine, comte d’Armagnac), whose fabulous book 'École de cavalerie' was  beautifully illustrated by French court painter Parrocel. Both authors' works became some of the  most important 'ecole de manege' treatises until mid XIX century when another Frenchman's book appeared.
There are some English sites that talk a bit about de Saunier eg voltes quotes of de Saunier  this is very interesting site of Thomas Ritter, a quote from the site ''His seat closely resembles De La Guérinière's. He was familiar with the shoulder-in, the invention of which is usually attributed to De La Guérinière or to his teacher, M. de Vendeuil, who had the same teachers as Gaspard de Saunier'')
a blog by mr Ritter ,
Some engravings from his book(I am not sure who the artist was, but the top image shows that while already in XVIII century the French riding masters did not abandon a lance when training in the manege), and I must add that I myself appreciate them a lot, since I have been training myself and a barn-sour mare for last 4 weeks, from the ground work up to the hackamore and sitrrupless riding, and these images of riders show some hearty and telling suggestions.

1.here we have two images of cavesson (kawecan in Polish) amongst tje samples of various parts of snaffle, curbbit etc

2.here we have curbbits, a bridle with reins and manner of holding them, a whip (in old good steppe fashion) etc

3. various curb bit shanks

4.

5.

6. the last description states - A posture of a cavalier who begins his learning and who is without spurs and stirrups.
Here are some French cavalry images of the period:

ps
I hope to read this book with a strong help from my dictionaries :)

Pancerny 'jezdziec' sketch I

Salve,
In my former posts I started addressing the other  Old Poland (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) kozak/pancerny cavalry..
  Pancerny
 Circassians and others
 Pancerny sketch
 Lithuanian towarzysz kozacki
 Pancerny pen sketch
 Pancerny with an eagle
 Pancerny- winter

Here I started a sketch based on some Circassian noble photo from XIX century - and perhaps I will relate a story or two from Jan Pasek's book when this image will be finished...
ps
When I draw or paint, be it canvass, paper or computer, I like to listen to music, and my favorite music is ''la guitarra'' (acoustic guitar), especially Spanish guitar music,  typically if played by Paco de Lucia, Paco Peña etc, but I also like other masters like McLaughlin or DiMeola (here Paco de Lucia with these two three masters )  so let me share a link with you to almost  hour long concert of two guitar masters:John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia tear it up at Friedburg, Germany

New sketch I

Salve,
In the iconography of the ancient world often we see horsemen trampling fallen foe while pursuing another one, or a hunting scene where a wild boar, lion or some other beast are pursued. I decided to start such a sketch 'converting' if you will one of the ancient images -  Alexander_Sarcophagus_1  
 or

or

I am naturally drawn to ancient nomadic peoples, so I think this image will be of a Scythian/Saka nobleman victory over a Greek colonist from a Pontic coast (Northern Black Sea coast), or perhaps  it will become an Assyrian or Achaemenid warrior ...
Sketch was done entirely in GIMP.

ps
reconstruction of colors on the ancient sculptures from Greece showing Saka or Persian warriors  archer Jinete_persa 

Achaemenid horseman - asabāra

Salve,
I  have several more Achaemenid Persian horsemen to show, so bear with me :) pretty please...

This one may be a later Achaemenid horseman - influenced by the Alexander Mosaic weygaert/alexandermosaic , thus no bow and arrows in a ''gorytos,'' but just a sword and two javelins called ''palta'' (wooden shaft  of cornel wood).
In the fashion of his Median ancestors he wears a kantuš over his ''thorax'' armor, that is a mix of Greek and north Iranian (steppe influence), and a scaled neck-guard eg Achaemenid throat guard .
 Perhaps he would carry a shield (''pelta'') in a Saka/Scythian fashion, with or without a metal ''umbo.''
In order to dress himself up and become even more armored he would need to acquire armored  'leggings' and perhaps arms' leather tubular  sleeve-like protection (''cheir''), while his horse could have to acquire a chanfron (metal head armor aka ''prometopidia'') and chest armor - scale or leather peytral (''prosternidia''). It is possible that he also carried a mace or war ax (klevetz) known as ''sagaris'' popular with the nomadic subjects and mercenaries of the Great King. Here is Xenophon on the subject - dariocaballeros.blogspot. xenophon-peri-hippikes-arms-and-armor
 Professor Tuplin in '' All the King's Horse '' presents in a very challenging article the idea of apparent poverty of cavalry in the Achaemenid Persian iconography. and where he discusses the Persian cavalry or rather its absence in the archaeological and iconographic materials drawn from the Achaemenid empire territories - eg the researcher states that in the monumental and public iconography of the Achaemenids there is no mounted rider, there are no cavalrymen overtly shown, nor there is a horse as a weapon of war in cavalry context (eg official seals out of 77 images in Persepolis treasury tablets have only three equines ). The Great King is a spearman or archer, but a pedestrian one when fighting or at times using a chariot to strike the foe.  This is such a undeniably a very great change from the New Assyrian kingdom ( to which ancient Media and Persia were heirs) iconography and documents where riders mounted on horses in context of war dominate. More on this research paper by professor  Tuplin in the future...
ps
Jan, thanks for you comments :) ,  asked a question about the helmet here - well, it is a conversion of this helmet:

More Achaemenid Iranians

Salve,
sketches of the ancient Persia: Achaemenid period - some done under the directions and comments by mr. Marek Wozniak

Ancient Iranian horsemen - kantuš

Salve,

a little sketch of ancient - Achaemenid - Iranian horseman ''asabāri,''  -
one of them is wearing a kantuš or a Median robe, known by it's Greek name as kandys (candys)
( Ormond Dalton: ''which had the peculiarity that the long narrow sleeves were not used but hung loose on either side like the sleeve of a hussar's jacket'') , over his scales armor.

Some time ago a Hungarian researcher (V. Gerves-Molnar in her study of szür-  ancient Hungarian coat) from Canada put forth a claim that kantuš was a ancestor to Hungarian and Polish ''kontusz'', and this hypothesis has not found fertile ground yet amongst the Polish historians of the Polish national costume (yet other picked it up (eg  Tullia Linders '' The Kandys in Greece and Persia'' - 1984),
But professor Nick Sekunda embraced it in his book The Persian Army 560-330 BC  when talking about the kantuš.
Another Hungarian researcher A. Gaborjan,  when studying other Hungarian coats - ''daroc'' and ''guba,'' pointed to their relationship with the ancient East, and probable Persian influences via Turkish borrowings of Persian fashions etc.

The golden eagle and its feathers versus Plains warriors via Catlin etc

Salve,

eagle feathers are forever the symbols of American Indian warriors, especially the feather bonnets of the Plains warriors. I finished reading an essay, published as bilingual book English-German, by Colin F. Taylor "Wapa'ha. The Plains Feathered Head-dress, Die Plains-Federhaube'' (1994), a short but succinct analysis of the history, type and ceremonialism of the feathered bonnets of the Northern Plains warriors during the per-reservation period. Inspired by the book I decided to cite here some XIX century information on the golden eagle , then called a calumet eagle, the principal source of the feathers for the warriors.

I will start with George Catlin, who is the most prolific of all the observers, for he drew and wrote down his observations...

George Catlin (circa 1832) on eagle feathers (when visiting the Mandan Indians on the Upper Missouri)

[...]''and a part of our labours were vainly spent in the pursuit of a war-eagle. This noble bird is the one which the Indians in these regions, value so highly for their tail feathers, which are used as the most valued plumes for decorating the heads and dresses of the warriors. It is a beautiful bird, and, the Indians tell me, conquers all other varieties of eagles in the country; from which circumstance, the Indians respect the bird, and hold it in the highest esteem, and value its quills. I am unable to say to what variety it belongs; but I am sure it is not to be seen in any of our museums ; nor is it to be found in America (I think), until one gets near to the base of the Rocky Mountains. This bird has often been called the calumet eagle and war-eagle; the last of which appellations I have already accounted for; and the other has arisen from the fact, that the Indians almost invariably ornament their calumets or pipes of peace with its quills.

Some 30 years earlier US Government official explorers Lewis and Clark noted: The Calumet eagle sometimes inhabits this side of the Rocky Mountains. . [.. . ] descends to the plains only in the fall and winter seasons. The natives are at this season on the watch, and so highly is this plumage prized by the Mandans, the Minnetarees [Hidatsa], and the Ricaras [Arikara], that the tail feathers of two of these eagles will be purchased by the exchange of a good horse or gun, and such accoutrements. Amongst the great and little Osages, and those nations inhabiting the countries where the bird is more rarely seen, the price is even double of that above mentioned. With these feathers the natives decorate the stems of their sacred pipes or calumets, from whence the name of the calumet eagle is derived. The Ricaras have domesticated this bird in many instances, for the purpose of obtaining its plumage. The natives on every part of the continent, who can procure the feathers, attach them to their own hair, and the manes and tails of their favorite horses, by way of ornament. They also decorate their war caps' or bonnets with these feathers.

Circa 1831 nature encyclopedia on British America (''Zoology of the northern parts of British America'' by Sir John Richardson, William Swainson, William Kirby) described this bird in relation to the native inhabitants of the Great Plains and provides an anecdote too : ..it is held by the aborigines of America, as it is by almost every other people, to be an emblem of might and courage; and the young Indian warrior glories in his eagle plume as the most honourable ornament with which he can adorn himself. Its feathers are attached to the calumets, or smoking pipes, used by the Indians in the celebration of their solemn festivals, which has obtained for it the name of the Calumet Eagle. Indeed, so highly are these ornaments prized, that a warrior will often exchange a valuable horse for the tail feathers of a single eagle* (from Lewis and Clark). The strength of vision of this bird must almost exceed conception, for it can discover its prey and pounce upon it from a height at which it is itself, with its expanded wings, scarcely visible to the human eye. When looking for its prey, it sails in large circles, with its tail spread out, but with little motion of its wings; and it often soars aloft in a spiral manner, its gyrations becoming gradually less and less perceptible, until it dwindles to a mere speck, and is at length entirely lost to the view. A story is current, on the plains of the Saskatchewan, of a half-breed Indian, who was vaunting his prowess before a band of his countrymen, and wishing to impress them with a belief of his supernatural powers. In the midst of his harangue an Eagle was observed suspended as it were in the air directly over his head, upon which, pointing aloft with his dagger, which glistened brightly in the sun, he called upon the royal bird to come down. To his own amazement, no less than to the consternation of the surrounding Indians, the Eagle seemed to obey the charm, for instantly, shooting down with the velocity of an arrow, it impaled itself on the point of his weapon!

Plains Indians in some sketches

Salve,
finally there is weekend and to round up the week some Plains Indians in my sketches:

Eurasian Saka/Scythian nomad sketches continued скифы

Salve,
some more sketches in various stages of ''undress'' of Saka, Scythian, скифы

Interesting article in Russian by mr Hudiakoff on the symbolic aspects of arrows amongst the ancient and medieval Eurasian nomads Arrow

Article by the Russian ''Scythian'' scholar Chernenko on the Darius the Great invasion of Scythia Pahod Daria

Saka Scythian sketches

Salve,
some sketches of the Saka/Scythians

Arms and armour of the nomads of the Southern Urals in this Russian article researcher Vasilliev armament/armament-and-warfare-of-south-urals-nomads-6-2bc

 

academic Chernienko - Scythian archers - in Russian - Skifian bowmen

ps

I freely admit I have been giving links to many wikipedia articles, I even participate from time to time in some article creation, but I must say that we have got to take wikipedia articles, when on history, ethnography and anthropology... and horse, with a grain of salt, as the information there may change daily - and here you can see an interesting film on wikipedia, internet and 'two sides of the coin' when comes to wikipedia's neutrality, veracity and quest for authority youtube truth according to wikipedia

Sketching ... and king Stanisław's saddle

Salve,
 some time ago, in this post I showed a sketch of a horseman leading a 'rumak' dariocaballeros. vivat-kielbaa
well,  inspired by  an image of the saddle of one of our Polish-Lithuanian kings I added some detail in that drawing -

The image of this saddle comes from the Polish Army Museum that  has on its website a photo of king Stanisław Leszczyński's saddle, circa 1704-05 http://www.muzeumwp.pl/emwpaedia/siodlo-koronacyjne-stanislawa-leszczynskiego-z-1704-roku.php

This saddle  is traditionally associated with our king Stanisław

and his first coronation during the Great Northern War. The saddle has a wooden tree (most likely covered with birch-bark for waterproofing and strengthening) covered  with leather underneath and on top with carmine silk velvet,  embroidered with flower motif covering the entire textile cover of the saddle, its embroidery was done with silver thread/yarn.  The saddle was richly ornamented, the pommel, cantle, and saddle tree bars had been covered with silver 'sheet metal' that in turn was gilded with gold. Also a floral ornamental motif was etched into the sheet metal, very precise and carefully executed.

Saddle flaps/skirts were first strengthened with leather dyed red and then covered with the same textile as saddle tree, while the cinch (double) was made out of doubled leather stitched  together and adorned with silver threat. The  stirrups did not survive the winds of time, unfortunately neither did the shabraque, crupper, breastplate and bridle with the bit...
This is not the winged hussar 'kulbaka' (then lancer deeper saddle) yet has characteristics typical to the Polish saddles made during the second half of XVII century made by various manufacturers in the royal city of  Lwów - unfortunately thanks to Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill not in Poland of today ( for more reading please see Zdzisław Żygulski jr study of Polish saddles of the period written in 1950s).

Cornucopia of Plains Indian research - Arnie Brownstone's site

Salve,
a quick notice to all who like to read on the Plains Indians culture, artifacts and history -  Royal Ontario Museum's website has a section devoted to the works of one of its curators - Mr. Arnie Brownstone ROM curators brownstone
Every article, presented in a 'pdf' format, is but a goldmine of information to many a student of Plains Indians.
Also, to all the 'fans' of the famous Lakota Sioux leader and shaman Sitting Bull, there is a rare glimpse into some of his surviving regalia, namely the headdress, shirt and other personal artifacts Sitting Bull once used - podcast rom media podcastsSitting Bull headdress

ps
a quick sketch after a painted war record robe image of a warrior on horseback from the ROM Mr Brownstone's page.

 

ps"

Two days ago I started a Wikipedia entry dedicated to the Mandan and Hidatsa women society known as White Buffalo Cow Society and the entry already has been nicely developing into a full blown article  en.wikipedia.org White_Buffalo_Cow_Society  

Also expanded on this Lakota Sioux personage of many sorts ;) - American Horse the younger  and earlier created this entry on one of Piast early family members Czcibor

Unfinished Polish 'pancerny' cavalryman

Salve,
a while ago I was drawing and painting illustrations for a book   wanax.pl biala-cerkiew-23-25-ix-1651 on the battle of Biała Cerkiew, presently Ukraine, between the armies of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and rebellious Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Khanate Tatars, and this acrylic painting was left unfinished. It purports to show a 'pancerny' - mailed cavalryman of the mid XVII century, I abandoned it for many reasons...

Perhaps it is worth noting here that prior to AD 1648 these national cavalry units were known as ''kozackie chorągwie'' (cossack banners), where soldierly was drawn mostly from middle and lower szlachta (nobility), and that they changed their name from ''kozackie'' to ''pancerny'' (''armoured'') during the Great Cossacks Rebellion of 1648, without changing their organization, armament and protective gear.   The bloody events of the Cossack Uprising, the Deluge, Polish-Russian war and then  fratricidal war between the ing and Lubomirski caused the significant reduction of the winged hussars and the rise of these cavalrymen known a 'pancerny' within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth armies. In order to improve the offensive weaponry of these banners, especially since the Polish military doctrine always favored  charge at gallop during an engagement,  the pancerny companies were ordered to equip themselves with  a shorter and lighter lance - 'rohatyna' or 'dzida', and with that lance they marched into XVII century and eventually became National cavalry and  turned into the famous  lance wielding ''uhlans''...